On Monday afternoon we had our final session at East Avenue Community Centre, which was also our 2nd birthday party. The group enjoyed entertainment from the incredibly talented swing singer, Simon Carter, who serenaded the group with catchy tunes from yesteryear and had everyone singing along and up dancing! The group enjoyed cake and nibbles […]

A hate crime is any crime that is perpetrated against somebody because of who they are or what they believe. The motivation for these offences stems from the victims’ gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability; characteristics protected under law and enshrined in legislation. Unfortunately, while it is widely accepted that the majority of these […]

This week at Young At Heart ULO we had a great time developing our team-working skills through participation in a general knowledge quiz, practicing our circus skills and getting to know each other using the ‘toss-n-talk’ ball. On Monday morning, at St John’s Church, we welcomed quite a few new members to the YAH family. […]

This week at Young At Heart ULO we belatedly celebrated Random Acts of Kindness Day, which took place on Sunday 17th February. In Stockton, on Monday morning, we seated the group together to play a (made up) game of ‘Kindness Beetle’. The game is not too dissimilar to the traditional game of ‘Beetle’ but, instead […]

In 2010, when the Coalition Government came into power, they instituted the most sweeping welfare reforms for a generation; they abolished and replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA) with the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), while they simultaneously introduced Universal Credit (UC), repealing six benefits and replacing them with one monthly instalment. These extreme changes are causing confusion, […]

On Monday morning, at our Stockton group, the group spent the session playing number games. We started with ‘Play Your Cards Right’ and worked around the teams until every team had won a game. For the second half of the session we had a game of bingo. On Monday afternoon, in Billingham, the group talked […]

Education for people with disabilities has always been an issue of contention and debate ever since the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1987. Despite education being “central” to many successive governments, since the 1990s very little practical implementation of adapted facilities appears to have taken place within mainstream Schools. This isn’t to say […]

This week at Young At Heart ULO we talked romance, explored our creative side and worked on our circus skills. In Stockton, on Monday morning, the group were talking romance, writing (some very risqué) valentines poems and creating small pieces of artwork that will be made into a larger piece made up of work from […]

REACH recently worked with a young lady who, upon completing her education at Abbey Hill School, wanted to enrol in a mainstream college so that she could pursue her dreams of working with children. Chloe’s mother expressed concerns about her travelling independently to and from Middlesbrough college. Following a discussion with Chloe, we found that […]